Kanter is a talented Turkish big man who made the Turkish professional team Fenerbahce Ulker at the age of 16. He played limited minutes there, but did get into four Euroleague games -- the top league in Europe.

After the season, Kanter moved onto the radar of NBA scouts playing for Turkey at the 2009 FIBA Under-18 Championships. He averaged 18.6 points and 16.4 rebounds in the tournament, led Turkey to a bronze medal and walked away with MVP honors.

After Kanter won the MVP for Turkey, his team offered him a five-year, multimillion euro contract. Kanter, however, dreamed of playing in the NCAA and NBA and left Turkey that summer. The move was not popular in Turkey, nor was it popular in the U.S. Turkish newspapers criticized the move and U.S. schools didn't want anything to do with him. He initially enrolled at Findlay Prep in Nevada, but left the school after other teams in the league protested. He eventually landed at Stoneridge Prep in Simi Valley, Calif., and in November of 2009 he committed to play at Washington. In early 2010, however, Kanter re-opened the recruiting process and eventually signed with Kentucky.

In April, Kanter went from an intriguing prospect to a potential lottery pick with his dominant performance at the Nike Hoop Summit.

Kanter, then just 17, shook off a poor week of practices (he later revealed he had a sore back that kept him from jumping and almost prevented him from playing) to dominate in the game. Kanter had 34 points (a Hoop Summit record), 13 boards and did it all in 22 minutes. He did a lot of his damage against McDonald's MVP Jared Sullinger.

I wrote back then that "Kanter was a beast in the paint, muscling his way in for position and regularly clawing his way through a pair of Team USA's high-profile bigs for a whopping eight offensive boards. … Not only was he a bear around the basket, but he also showed off his ability to put the ball on the floor and hit the outside J. On Saturday night, Kanter looked like a future lottery pick."

However, it would be the last competitive game Kanter would play. He was ruled permanently ineligible to play in the NCAA because of benefits he received while playing for Fenerbahce as a 16-year-old.

While awaiting his appeal, Kanter practiced with the Kentucky team, but after Kentucky's appeal was turned down Kanter was no longer allowed to even practice with the team. He was left working out in a gym, one-on-one with a Kentucky assistant coach.

For the past few weeks, Kanter has taken his game to Chicago to prep for the 2011 NBA draft. Would a team really take him in the top five based on a great 2009 European Championship run, a year of high school games and an historic night at the Nike Hoop Summit even though he hasn't played a competitive game in more than a year?

I've been pretty confident he's going to be a top-five pick all year. I still am.

While legitimate questions remain about the loss of two critical years of game development, Kanter possesses virtually all of the qualities NBA teams are looking for in bigs, especially for a kid who is one of the youngest players in this year's draft.

He's big (he measured a shade below 6-foot-11 in shoes with a 7-1 wingspan at the Hoop Summit), has an NBA body and uses his strength around the basket. He has a relentless motor on the boards and has excellent footwork for an 18-year-old big man. He's also gotten in terrific shape in Chicago and appears much more explosive than we thought last year. At the Hoop Summit, Kanter was nursing a back injury and could barely get off the floor. In workouts here at ATTACK, Kanter showed he had no problem playing over the rim. While he's no Blake Griffin, he's not a stiff, either.

thanks for posting Arsenalist.....I was creepin ESPN last night and saw the headline "Kanter could go #1" but then next to it had that little "INsider" logo so you had to be an insider to read it.....was very curious what the article had said.....based on what everybody's raving about him, and from what I've seen from highlights, the big shame is that nobody got to see him play in college....if he was able to play, it would be interesting to see how he'd be stack up against American college players

Your ex came by; you can call me Jonas Valanciunas, cause I'm the king of rebounds!

thanks for posting Arsenalist.....I was creepin ESPN last night and saw the headline "Kanter could go #1" but then next to it had that little "INsider" logo so you had to be an insider to read it.....was very curious what the article had said.....based on what everybody's raving about him, and from what I've seen from highlights, the big shame is that nobody got to see him play in college....if he was able to play, it would be interesting to see how he'd be stack up against American college players

One of the videos posted had a Kentucky player (Terrence Jones? I can't remember) talking about how Kanter took it to Nazr Mohammed (Kentucky alum). I think he will be a very good pro.

If we pick 3rd and Derrick Williams is still on the board, we're set.....he's what the Raps have been waiting for since VC bailed on us......imagine a 2-3 combo of Derozan and Williams? wow

I'm not sold on Williams having the speed necessary to play against 3's and the handle necessary to create his own versus them either. We don't need another tweener... we already have a 2/3 tweener in Bargnani.

His workouts will make or break him. Lot's of guys have been drafted into the nba with no college: before the one year rule came in a lot of guys came in out of high school. One thing to keep in mind with Kanter is that he is only 18, turning 19 tomorrow. It's not like missing a year is going to destroy his development, the guy is already more developed than 95% of all pf/C we see in the draft and he is still younger than all those other guys. If his knees check out, and I have read nothing to indicate they won't, and he has some really strong workouts he will easily go ahead of Irving and Williams. I predict all three of the high potential Euro bigs (Val, Kanter, and Montejunias) will go very early, much like http://www.nbadraft.net/ has listed.

"When Life gives you lemons, you clone those Lemons to make super lemons!"
-Scudworth

I'm not sold on Williams having the speed necessary to play against 3's and the handle necessary to create his own versus them either. We don't need another tweener... we already have a 2/3 tweener in Bargnani.

I'd argue this team has tweeners in:

AB : SG-C (the ultimate tweener)
Derozan : SG - SF (not the size of a sf, but lacking the diversity of a SG)
Weems : SG - SF (see Derozan)
Bayless : PG - SG (shoot first PG without the size to play SG)
Kleiza : SF-PF (classic tweener)
Amir/Reggie/Ed - forced upon them as they had to defend/play C's without the size to do so.

I'm all for a player that can actually has both the size and ability to actually play their position.

AB : SG-C (the ultimate tweener)
Derozan : SG - SF (not the size of a sf, but lacking the diversity of a SG)
Weems : SG - SF (see Derozan)
Bayless : PG - SG (shoot first PG without the size to play SG)
Kleiza : SF-PF (classic tweener)
Amir/Reggie/Ed - forced upon them as they had to defend/play C's without the size to do so.

I'm all for a player that can actually has both the size and ability to actually play their position.

I don't argue the tweeners listed above in the sense of traditional positions - PG, SG, SF, PF, and C.

However if you use the philosophy of guards, wings, and bigs the only issue I see is Kleiza and Williams. Neither are 100% wing or big.

Bargnani is an enigma all his own and I'll refer to him as a shooting centre (SC).

Williams has Corliss Williamson written all over him. I'd rather trade down and take Leonard or Burks

I disagree with this.
Not that there is anything wrong with Big Nasty. Dude made a living on some very good teams, (Won 6th man and an NBA Championship with Detroit.)

But I'm not sure I ever heard Williamson described as being a 'Freakish Athlete', or as 'the best Scorer in the Country'.

Williamson had a very good College Career at Arkansas, don't get me wrong. But to say one of the best players in the Country has 'Corliss Williamson written all over him' is a little silly, in my opinion. The guy hit SIX 3 pointers in his Entire Career. haha

"That was Nasty right? Cocked that Joint back and banged on 'em." -James Johnson

It's funny how things work out... initially I was worried that we'd have to take Williams if we got the sixth pick... then I warmed up to him and was pumped that at the very least we'd get him, then of course a bunch of guys dropped out and more euro's were being highlighted, which of course, i hadn't seen play so all my hard work scouting the NCAA tourney are pretty much all for naught. It seems that Kanter's stock has consistently risen among the posters here. It seemed like Irving and Williams were the consensus picks at 1 and 2 respectively and Kanter has gone from a possibly top 5 pick to what seems like a sure fire #3 and now a possible number #1? It'll be curious to see if his stock continues to rise after the balls fall tonight. If we have the choice of Williams vs. Kanter, I think I'm still on the Williams train. I liked what I saw. However, I'm not a pro scout and IF it's fairly certain that Kanter will be at the very least a solid 10-20 min/ game back up C then he is probably the better pick. If the worst case scenario is a back up SF or a back up C I'd rather take the C. Kanter for the win?

"We only have one rule on this team. What is that rule? E.L.E. That's right's, E.L.E, and what does E.L.E. stand for? EVERYBODY LOVE EVERYBODY. Right there up on the wall, because this isn't just a basketball team, this is a lifestyle. ~ Jackie Moon

I disagree with this.
Not that there is anything wrong with Big Nasty. Dude made a living on some very good teams, (Won 6th man and an NBA Championship with Detroit.)

But I'm not sure I ever heard Williamson described as being a 'Freakish Athlete', or as 'the best Scorer in the Country'.

Williamson had a very good College Career at Arkansas, don't get me wrong. But to say one of the best players in the Country has 'Corliss Williamson written all over him' is a little silly, in my opinion. The guy hit SIX 3 pointers in his Entire Career. haha

Ya, I don't see the comparison at all. If you wanted to compare Corliss Williamson to anyone it would have been a poor man's Barkley. Or maybe Rodney Rogers. Derrick Williams, if he can be compared to anyone, it would be Michael Beasley. Corliss was never very athletic, unlike Derrick. The question is not with Derrick's athleticism, but with his quickness. I have no doubt Derrick will be a decent pro. The question is whether he's got the quickness to become an elite player.